Mediation and Arbitration Strategy

The Plaintiff wants $13 million dollars. Your client authorizes you to counter with $1 million but confides that they will go as high as $4 million. The plaintiff counters with $12 million, touting their last big eight figure verdict. You go to mediation and the mediator discusses the cost of trial and the risk of a runaway jury verdict. Your client become nervous, calculates the risk and you end up settling for $6 million.  

Was the case really worth $6 million dollars? If the Plaintiff had demanded $11 million, would you have settled at $5 million? Could you have settled the case for $3 million and what would have positioned the case to settle for that amount? Even with economist’s reports and life care plans, much of settlement and mediation figures are arbitrary.

With training in mediation and negotiation, Decision Analysis consultants understand the psychological factors that effectively position cases for mediators and opposing parties to settle for favorable amounts.  By identifying and using anchors, framing devices, and quantified damages, we give neutrals, arbitrators, and opposing parties concrete values for your settlement posture. We have also invented unique systems such as Jury Mediations, Judicial Panels, and Private Trials to help clients plan mediation and arbitration strategies to move all parties and facilitators toward adopting your positions and value of the case.